Gov. Hochul Holds on After Tough Campaign Against Right-Winger Zeldins

ELECTIONS 2022

22 Gov. Hochul Holds on After Tough Campaign Against Right-Winger Zeldin

BY KATIE HONAN, HAIDEE CHU, JONATHAN CUSTODIO, STEPHON JOHNSON, GEORGE JOSEPH, CLAUDIA IRIZARRY APONTE AND TANAZ MEGHJANI, THE CITY

Gov. Kathy Hochul fought off a challenge from Republican Lee Zeldin on Tuesday, although her opponent refused to concede. Shortly after 11 p.m., with a little more than 50% of the statewide vote counted, both NBC News and ABC News called the race for Hochul and her running mate Antonio Delgado. Hochul then declared victory, tweeting “I’m deeply honored to be elected Governor of the State of New York.” “Tonight, you made your voices heard loud and clear, and you made me the first woman ever elected to be governor in the state of New York,” she told supporters at her campaign watch party in Manhattan’s Chinatown. “But I’m not here to make history. I’m here to make a difference.” She is the first woman to be elected governor in New York State, after taking over the job from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in disgrace in Aug. 2021 following sexual harassment allegations. Hochul, who served two years in Congress representing Erie County and six years as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor, focused her campaign on reproductive rights across the state after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June. On the trail, she touted her accomplishments in the year-plus she’s been governor, including creating a task force to crack down on illegal guns and accelerating a middle-class tax cut of more than $1 billion. The governor also highlighted her five-year housing proposal to create and preserve an estimated 100,000 affordable units. In her victory speech Tuesday, she vowed to continue her work on behalf of New Yorkers — and did not mention her competitor. “Together, we’ll put our values to work, to lift up all and leave no one behind. We’ll build a state where families can afford to raise their children, we’ll create good paying jobs.” As the clock struck midnight, Zeldin felt he was still in the race as he spoke to supporters at his watch party in Midtown, telling them he expected results to tilt to his favor as ballots are counted. “Enjoy the open bar, and enjoy watching the results, because what you’re about to see is that this will continue to get closer and closer and closer and closer as the night goes on,” he said. At about 1 a.m. Wednesday, the Associated Press called the race for Hochul. With about 12,000 of 14,296 election districts reporting, she held a 53% to 46% lead. The incumbent — who’d called herself an “underdog” the week before the election — repeatedly said during the campaign that her opponent was too far right and could jeopardize reproductive rights for women in New York. That message seemed to resonate with Democratic-leaning voters. Daniel Meredith, 45, told THE CITY he cast his ballot for Hochul out of concern for his three young children’s future. “Lee Zeldin is probably against everything that I want my kids to live in,” the Queens resident said. “The Lee Zeldin camp, they’re really not tolerant about gender rights and abortion and things like that. So, you know, I really want my daughter to be able to have choices with her rights.” At their sole debate, the pair sparred over issues ranging from asylum seekers to abortion. Despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans by more than 2 to 1 in New York state — and nearly 7 to 1 in New York City — some polls in the weeks leading up to election day showed Hochul had just a small lead over Zeldin. Across the state, voters unaffiliated with either party comprise nearly a quarter of registered voters, outnumbering registered Republicans. Hochul out-raised Zeldin in recent months, bringing in more than $11.2 million to his over $6.4 million, according to the most recent state election filings — even as the Republican benefited from outside groups spending large sums on his behalf.

Zeldin’s Crime Gambit Over the past few months, as Hochul repeatedly said her opponent would set back women’s rights, Zeldin, who opposes abortion but said that he wouldn’t be able to change state laws allowing it, focused on public safety, amplifying fears of a city and state falling into lawlessness. While campaigning, Zeldin vowed to fire Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on his first day in office, citing what he called “soft on crime” policies. His campaign ads often used violent imagery, which some have called racist. The member of Congress from Long Island also promised to declare a “state of emergency” on crime on Jan. 1, and repeal the 2019 bail reform law. Hours before the polls closed, at a campaign stop in Jackson Heights, Queens, Zeldin said he had support among a diverse group of voters — even in parts of the city usually seen as strongly Democratic. “When you look at Brooklyn and Queens, while it’s viewed as blue counties, it can be a little deceiving,” he said. “My message to everybody: Don’t ever let your vote be taken for granted.” At the campaign stop on election day, some of Zeldin’s supporters tangled with people who came out to campaign for Hochul. Mariano Laboy, 77, from Morrisania in The Bronx, and Charlie Vavruska, 55 from Maspeth, Queens, repeatedly chanted “Crime! Crime!” at Hochul supporters.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com “I’m scared every day, my daughter has to ride these subways,” Vavurska said. “Everybody’s scared, it’s never been like this.” When asked about data that shows there is less crime in the city than in previous decades, he called it “bullcrap.” Some categories of crime, including incidents in the transit system, are up in recent years. But overall, homicides and major crimes like felony assault are significantly rarer than in the 1980s or 1990s, despite rising during the pandemic. Zeldin’s message motivated at least some unlikely voters. Bernard, a lifelong Staten Island resident who declined to share his last name or age, told THE CITY that he hadn’t voted in a long time, but was moved this year to show up for Zeldin because of the “climate of crime.” “This is the first time I voted in a long time because I wanted to vote for Zeldin,” Bernard said. Echoing Zeldin’s talking points on bail reform, he said, “If you’re attacked, is your attacker going to be let out? The answer is yes. It’s anarchy.” But many voters in New York City who heard Zeldin’s message came to a different conclusion. Manhattan resident Carolyn Harris, 77, told THE CITY she voted for Hochul and said Zeldin’s extreme focus on crime was “fear-mongering — and the media is making it worse.” “I travel around the city all the time and I’m telling you now that it’s a lot less scary than it used to be,” she said. “I was here starting back in 1976. I was here when the trains were old and full of graffiti.” Howard Kang, who has lived in Jackson Heights, Queens for six years, said that some people in his immediate circle are alarmed about crime. “My girlfriend gets the little ridiculous Citizen app notification that hypes up crime a little too much, I think. She thinks crime has gotten worse, but I don’t think it has,” Kang told THE CITY. “It’s way, way overblown in my opinion. There are other ways to address it other than throwing people in jail.”l This story was published on Nov 8, 2022 by THE CITY. This is an abbreviated version. Read the full story at www.cawnyc.com